dcyrilc
Elite Member
Good to see you back Terry. As always, you and yours are in our thoughts and prayers.
An Old Goat Ranch in Texas
- Thread starter terry.dinerman
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OP
terry.dinerman
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2009
- Messages
- 405
- Tractor
- 1990 - JD 870
EdC
Gold Member
Terry
Glad to see you are back though I think you are stretching a point when you say you nearly always win when you argue with yourself; heck I'm barely 50/50. :laughing: I too am taking the advice in your signature line. It is remarkable how important that truly is.
The first thing I thought of when I saw the pictures was that "there's no pitch to the roof; how is it going to shed the snow load?" I think I may have spent too long in Quebec, Montana, and Washington.
Smooth seas and trailing winds
Glad to see you are back though I think you are stretching a point when you say you nearly always win when you argue with yourself; heck I'm barely 50/50. :laughing: I too am taking the advice in your signature line. It is remarkable how important that truly is.
The first thing I thought of when I saw the pictures was that "there's no pitch to the roof; how is it going to shed the snow load?" I think I may have spent too long in Quebec, Montana, and Washington.
Smooth seas and trailing winds
OP
terry.dinerman
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2009
- Messages
- 405
- Tractor
- 1990 - JD 870
You want snow in my neighborhood, Buddy, you have to get it from a fellah in a little stand down by the park .... I like bannana, myself ....
I got really tired of cold weather in general and snow in particular growing up in on Long Island ... where the Shinnecock indians have 27 words for SLUSH ...
I know the roof looks pretty flat but there is just enough pitch to get it to shed water .... 6" over 16' ....
Terry
I got really tired of cold weather in general and snow in particular growing up in on Long Island ... where the Shinnecock indians have 27 words for SLUSH ...
I know the roof looks pretty flat but there is just enough pitch to get it to shed water .... 6" over 16' ....
Terry
dcyrilc
Elite Member
You want snow in my neighborhood, Buddy, you have to get it from a fellah in a little stand down by the park .... I like bannana, myself ....
I got really tired of cold weather in general and snow in particular growing up in on Long Island ... where the Shinnecock indians have 27 words for SLUSH ...
I know the roof looks pretty flat but there is just enough pitch to get it to shed water .... 6" over 16' ....
Terry
Sure wish I could get away with that around here. Our barn has just a bit more pitch to the roof...
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terry.dinerman
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2009
- Messages
- 405
- Tractor
- 1990 - JD 870
I get dizzy just looking at the picture! That roof ought to shed everything but asteroids ...
Now, here in Texas, maybe up in the Panhandle you might accumulate enough snow to warrant a high pitch, but when you get much south of Dallas, you can get away with some pretty flat stuff...
I had a friend from Billings, MT that used to talk about having to regularly rake up to 8 FEET of snow of his chicken houses roofs to keep them from collapsing ... and my relatives in Amarillo can recall seeing cows that froze to death leaning against a tree in February and not fall over till April ....
Myself, I spent enough time shoveling snow and slush off my parents driveways and walks and busting ice off the railings and uppers of various ships ...
I now prefer to see my ice floating in a margarita .... :licking:
Now go tell someone you Love them ...!
Terry
groundcover
Veteran Member
Great thread Terry ! I'll second the book idea, you have got a gift ! I'm sure the local FD will be thrilled when you move to the property, I know I would love to have you in my town, even if it is here a month, gone a month. Best job in the world... Reminds me of the fire guys and Medics that got onto potatoe guns. One thing led to another and the idea to "heat up the hair spray with a little o2" came along. Guess the blast blew all the windows out of the station but at least no one was hurt... Best job in the world if you can stay out of trouble !
OP
terry.dinerman
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2009
- Messages
- 405
- Tractor
- 1990 - JD 870
San Antonio
Ah yes .... San Antonio ....
The Master Plan changed a bit on the fly, as Precious Dafter could not bear the thought of our Dog Pack in a kennel, so she chilled at the house with her chums, both canine and human, while Precious Bride and I headed west ...
PD picked me up at the airport and we headed out of town straight away ... she had already packed my duffle in our old pickup, so that was Good Enough!
I'm easy and beating the Rush Hour traffic out of Houston was a real thrill !
After a month aboard ship, I loved the driving ... the truck was a "Welcome Home" gift when I quit Iraq .... a 2000 F-150 formerly owned by a friend of my FIL.
It had over 200,000 miles on it when she bought it, and nearly a quarter million now PB normally prefers to buy a vehicle new and run them till the fenders flap, but the chap who owned this one went WAY beyond just maintaining it he had records of every filter, brake lining, windshield wiper, hose etc all the way back to the day he bought it and when PB went to look it over he was out in the driveway cleaning the grill and chrome on it with a toothbrush .... an ELECTRIC toothbrush ....
So for just $4K I got one awesome truck, with a big HONKIN V8 and thus I get to irritate all the Austin Prius-Hippies at Popular Prices ...
"Prius" ? Thats a word that describes a wonderful way to show the neighborhood how ecologically aware you are thru your conspicuous purchasing power, while all the while, instead of despoiling YOUR environment by burning hydrocarbons in your car, you despoil someone ELSES environment by mining the lead and/or rare earths for the batteries and burning hydrocarbons in some remote powerplant to run the plants down on the border that make the parts and pollute THEIR environments with the waste products generated to build your little underpowered wunder-kar ...
... I get it ...
I landed on my Favorite Uncle's DooDoo list when he bragged to me about how much mileage his Prius could get ... we were headed downhill with a tailwind at the time and the darn gauge thingie said it was getting about 120 mpg!
I just couldn't resist the bait and calculated out loud that if I invested the same amount of money in my truck as he did in his Prius, I would have about $36,000 dollars left over to spend on gas for the big-azz V8 I planned on using to pass him and every other Prius on the pike with ...
I figured at $3 a gallon, I could put another 250,000 miles or so on it ...
It's just a Good Thing he loves me no matter how snarky I get with him ...
So With a full tank of gas and no particular schedule, Precious Bride and I put "Truck" in Cruise and pointed it west We figured we could spend the cash we saved by not renting a car on "Cactus Margaritas" at Zuni Grill on the Riverwalk .... and STILL piss off the hippies at Popular Prices ...
________________________________________
Interstate 10 between Houston and San Antonio has changed quite a bit over the years ... PB and I can both remember when there were still sections of 2-lane blacktop and a couple of iron bridges and if any of you Geezers can name the old roadside diner and motel that used to mark the halfway point, I'll buy you a Slushie and a foot-long chili dog ...
This is one of our favorite rides ... we spent much time reminiscing about what used to be where, and arguing over the names of the flowers ...
One place that has not changed was "Joel's Bar-B-Que" , where they've been serving up gently killed and lovingly smoked animal flesh in the same place on the outskirts of beautiful cosmopolitan Flatonia long before I moved to Texas .. after we finished licking the rib grease off our fingers, we got some of their out-STANDING dry sausage to go ...
________________________________________
The ride was a total pleasure ... PB and I are one of those rare couples who can tolerate each others presence for long periods in cramped spaces ... we talked and talked ... and vented a lot of pent-up Sad before we pulled up at our hotel just ahead of sundown,
Our hotel of choice in SA is "Riverrwalk Vista" ... a wonderful Bed and Breakfast set in a renovated circa 1883 commercial building on the corner of Commerce and Losoya ... you can toss a quarter across the street and into the Riverwalk from our window ...
The Concierge gave us a warm welcome and told us that there was wine and snacks in the lounge ... you gotta LOVE that ... so while PB got our room squared away, I found a good parking spot at the garage a little further downtown ... Convenient parking in downtown SA is something that is rare on a regular weekend, remarkable during Fiesta ...
The "Vista" is a small operation with a wonderful staff and the location is perfect ... It's just a short walk to the Alamo and the Menger Hotel, across the street from the Convention Center, stairs down to the Downtown loop of the Riverwalk are right across the street, the Mercado is a nice stretch of the legs downhill on Commerce and a cheap busride back, you are close enough to the best restaurants in the City to smell em ..... and with Fiesta in full swing, the whole city was hoppin ..
Just the way I like it !
PB and I tried the place on a friend's advice as a decompression chamber for my first R&R during my sojourn in Iraq ? and it has been our favorite getaway ever since ....
After spreading out our gear and freshening up, we wandered across the street to Zuni Grill for some fine dining and split one of the fabled "Cactus Margarita's" .... a fishbowl full of top-shelf tequila is steeped in a crock of nopales to impart a totally unique smooth / tart flavor (Nopales ? .... look em up Pilgrims ... !)
The stuff goes down WAAAAAAAY too smooth ....
Talking and watching the crowds cruising the Riverwalk was a wonderful way to spend the evening, and tho we did not have to hire a busboy to lead us back across the street, (... not like LAST TIME ... ) I did have to take extra care navigating the high curbs and festival traffic crossing Losoya, not to mention that iron stairway back at the hotel ... for some reason, I was a bit wobbly ....
... must be that Jet Lag stuff ....
We made it back across the street in one piece and settled in ... once again the decompression chamber was working it's magic ... we were lulled to sleep by the street noise that drifted up to our window ... a combination of excited voices, traffic, live jazz from the bar next door, all set to a back-beat of the rumble of the hot-rods, low-riders and V-twins ... it was a regular symphony ... !
__________________________________________
Morning arrived at it's own pace as alarm clocks were banned for the duration of the trip ... PB and I spent a lazy morning enjoying the work of the excellent kitchen at the B&B and the company of our fellow boarders ... It seems two life-long friends were there arranging a 50th birthday party for the younger of the pair, and we were having such a rowdy good time swapping tales and guzzling coffee the Concierge / Chef joined in ...
Hours crept by and only slowly did the realization of what I had done come to me ...
I had, thru a booze induced lapse in Situational Awareness, become the only source of testosterone at a Hen-Party ... and the exhilaration of facing the guns of the Enemy cannot compare the gut-churning fear of suddenly realizing your are the only man in the room and facing four Texas "Women of a Certain Age" in full cry ....
Years of training finally clicked in and I recovered my wits ... I backed out of the room retracing my steps VERY slowly and then bolted for safety
I have had closer calls, but not recently ... juggling bobcats is safer than messing with a bunch of Steel Magnolias ...
Precious Bride returned a little while later to inform me that not only had I managed to NOT embarrass her, but I had made quite an impression on the girls and she and I now had several new life-long friends and an invitation to the aforementioned 50th Birthday party, set for that evening in the loft of the bar next door ...
Talk about coming up roses ... !
_________________________________
One of the few fixed destinations for this trip was The Alamo, where an annual ceremony commemorating the Battle of San Jacinto was to be held, so we geared up and headed down to the street for the short stroll to the Alamo grounds.
The streets were not too crowded, and we were soon at the Shrine ... I have been making regular trips there ever since I moved to Texas and as time goes by, I appreciate more and more what it took to cross that line in the sand and stand at those walls to face a powerful and cruel Enemy ...
One of PB and my favorite memories is a trip when the kids were young, and the bronze plaque of "Travis' Letter" still hung in the main hall ... I read it aloud to our kids and when I turned around to see how the kids and she liked it, I had collected a sizable crowd of visitors all standing behind me quietly listening ...
Fortune saw too it that PB and I had a place to stand right at the front door of the Shrine The ceremony began with a Color Guard, members of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and representatives from all of the armed services entering the front doors and passing slowly thru to the nave, where they all stood at attention until the rest of us filed in and assembled for the Pledge of Allegiance ... It was a splendid sight ... I found myself a little moist around the eyes ...
The main ceremony is short as it is tradition that the palaver last no longer than the battle did and with only 18 minutes, the dignitaries have to keep it short and sweet ....
I wish some politicians could exert such restraint and respect ...
After the dignitaries had their say, a gentleman from San Antonio, a re-enactor in period costume portraying Juan Seguin, stood to the dais and began to read a letter from a Texian private describing the battle to his father ....
The letter chronicled the effects of the news of the burning of "Vinc's Bridge", cutting off Mexican reinforcements and any possiblity of a Texian retreat, the Texians preparations the evening and morning before the battle, the silent advance across the prairie separating the Texian and Mexican camps, the shock of finding the Mexican camp completely unaware of the advance, the terrible effect of the opening volley, led by the "Twin Sisters" cannon that had been hand-drawn across the field to discharge their loads of iron slugs into the Mexican lines at point blank range, the awful retribution taken on the Mexican troops when there was no longer time or room to reload the muzzle-loading weapons and the Texians brought the battle home with bayonets, swords, pikes, knives, gunstocks and fists in the swamps at the rear of the Mexican camp and the eventual news that General Santa Anna had been captured and that they had somehow won .....
The emotion of that reading was overwhelming ... It was a powerful testament to the price paid in blood by those on both sides for the ground beneath our feet the ovation for this fellows performance went on and on ...
The program concluded with the representatives from the Armed Services being called to stand and receive a Proclamation of Thanks for their service from the Daughters of the Republic ... you could hear the crowd cheering and clapping for miles ... the troops were superb and no-one in attendance will soon forget this days program ...
When I hear folks disparage the state of "... young people these days..." I think of all the young troopers I have met over the last few years ... I have no fear for the future with such young men and women standing watch ...
With the official business of the day done, a long stroll thru Alamo Plaza was called for ... by then the sun was almost overhead and warming things up considerably, so we joined the crowds and wandered thru the plaza at a "Mare's Pace" ... the sight of all the vendors made us realize we needed to find a birthday gift for our new friend ....
________________________________________
On a good day, Joye (with an "e") would be a hard person to shop for ... describing her personality as outgoing would be like describing a fire truck as understated ... her long career as a Social Worker has seen her rise to the helm of a Senior Citizens Center in a nearby city where her blindingly sunny disposition and terrier like tenacity make her the perfect choice for such an endeavor ... you CAN'T be in a bad mood around her for long, as she will wrestle whatever is keeping you from enjoying your day to the floor if that's what it takes .... she is deeply committed to the welfare of her clients the perfect choice for a Director ....
The vendors that had set up their tents in the Plaza had all sorts of nice things but nothing jumped out at us as just right for Joye so we headed down to the Mercado to seek treasure there ...
A nice walk thru downtown and we were soon wandering thru the dozens of shops at the Mercado and sure enough EXACTLY the right gifts practically leapt off the shelves ...
From your humble author, Joye received a magnificent pink and white "Lucha Libre" mask (Mexican masked wrestling) and from Precious Bride, Joye now owns a small intricately carved ceramic wall plaque, an Olmec bas relief portraying the faces of youth, middle age and Death, each face nested within the other ...
Precious Bride is definitely the Class Act on our team ... Me? ..... I can't help my self ....
By the time our treasure hunt was finished the heat of the afternoon was becoming oppressive ... walking uphill back to the hotel would not be in keeping with our stated aim of being as lazy as old dogs, so we waited for the bus and we were soon back at basecamp having a light lunch and a couple of Dr. Peppers at an old deli near our hotel .....
Siesta was upon us, and the afternoon was spent in sweet repose ...
The party was a hoot .... loud music, happy people, good food and drink .... Joye's many friends took PB and I in as if we were family ... a group of Joye's clients from the Center attended and partied with the reckless abandon of people that have survived a Great Depression and one or two World Wars as well as the slings and arrows of a long life ... we had fallen in with a fine group of scoundrels ... the Gammers and Gaffers put us "...young punks ...." to shame .... you should have been there when the old folks got started comparing battle scars and tattoos .... some of those GIRLS had quite a history ....
The Wee Hours snuck up on us, so we made our goodbyes to the still-reveling revelers and wobbled our way back to the hotel, which thankfully, was two doors down and on the same side of the street, leaving only the iron stairs and an elevator to negotiate ...
Did you know that if you press all the buttons you will eventually get to your floor?
It may take a few round trips, but you will eventually get there ......
________________________________________________
Our last day was spent inside, subsisting on "snackage" and the excellent kitchen there at the hotel .... with all that has gone on lately we needed time to chill out and just talk ....
Without Ben, there is now a lot of day left at the end of the work, and a whole lot of living left to be done that had been too long deferred ..... so much to do ....
The work, as is its way, will fill up the available time soon enough, and I have a feeling that life has a few more twists and turns in it for the rest of us.
When all the talk was done, it turns out, none of the three of us really want or need any great changes in the general direction of our lives .... Precious Bride and I will continue to work down towards retirement at The Ranch, Precious Dafter will continue her studies ...
The planet will keep spinning ... Life will go on ...
Let's hope things spin in Greased Grooves for a little while .....
All too soon, it was time to go Home .... and get one with it ....
Now, go tell someone you LOVE them ....
Terry
Ah yes .... San Antonio ....
The Master Plan changed a bit on the fly, as Precious Dafter could not bear the thought of our Dog Pack in a kennel, so she chilled at the house with her chums, both canine and human, while Precious Bride and I headed west ...
PD picked me up at the airport and we headed out of town straight away ... she had already packed my duffle in our old pickup, so that was Good Enough!
I'm easy and beating the Rush Hour traffic out of Houston was a real thrill !
After a month aboard ship, I loved the driving ... the truck was a "Welcome Home" gift when I quit Iraq .... a 2000 F-150 formerly owned by a friend of my FIL.
It had over 200,000 miles on it when she bought it, and nearly a quarter million now PB normally prefers to buy a vehicle new and run them till the fenders flap, but the chap who owned this one went WAY beyond just maintaining it he had records of every filter, brake lining, windshield wiper, hose etc all the way back to the day he bought it and when PB went to look it over he was out in the driveway cleaning the grill and chrome on it with a toothbrush .... an ELECTRIC toothbrush ....
So for just $4K I got one awesome truck, with a big HONKIN V8 and thus I get to irritate all the Austin Prius-Hippies at Popular Prices ...
"Prius" ? Thats a word that describes a wonderful way to show the neighborhood how ecologically aware you are thru your conspicuous purchasing power, while all the while, instead of despoiling YOUR environment by burning hydrocarbons in your car, you despoil someone ELSES environment by mining the lead and/or rare earths for the batteries and burning hydrocarbons in some remote powerplant to run the plants down on the border that make the parts and pollute THEIR environments with the waste products generated to build your little underpowered wunder-kar ...
... I get it ...
I landed on my Favorite Uncle's DooDoo list when he bragged to me about how much mileage his Prius could get ... we were headed downhill with a tailwind at the time and the darn gauge thingie said it was getting about 120 mpg!
I just couldn't resist the bait and calculated out loud that if I invested the same amount of money in my truck as he did in his Prius, I would have about $36,000 dollars left over to spend on gas for the big-azz V8 I planned on using to pass him and every other Prius on the pike with ...
I figured at $3 a gallon, I could put another 250,000 miles or so on it ...
It's just a Good Thing he loves me no matter how snarky I get with him ...
So With a full tank of gas and no particular schedule, Precious Bride and I put "Truck" in Cruise and pointed it west We figured we could spend the cash we saved by not renting a car on "Cactus Margaritas" at Zuni Grill on the Riverwalk .... and STILL piss off the hippies at Popular Prices ...
________________________________________
Interstate 10 between Houston and San Antonio has changed quite a bit over the years ... PB and I can both remember when there were still sections of 2-lane blacktop and a couple of iron bridges and if any of you Geezers can name the old roadside diner and motel that used to mark the halfway point, I'll buy you a Slushie and a foot-long chili dog ...
This is one of our favorite rides ... we spent much time reminiscing about what used to be where, and arguing over the names of the flowers ...
One place that has not changed was "Joel's Bar-B-Que" , where they've been serving up gently killed and lovingly smoked animal flesh in the same place on the outskirts of beautiful cosmopolitan Flatonia long before I moved to Texas .. after we finished licking the rib grease off our fingers, we got some of their out-STANDING dry sausage to go ...
________________________________________
The ride was a total pleasure ... PB and I are one of those rare couples who can tolerate each others presence for long periods in cramped spaces ... we talked and talked ... and vented a lot of pent-up Sad before we pulled up at our hotel just ahead of sundown,
Our hotel of choice in SA is "Riverrwalk Vista" ... a wonderful Bed and Breakfast set in a renovated circa 1883 commercial building on the corner of Commerce and Losoya ... you can toss a quarter across the street and into the Riverwalk from our window ...
The Concierge gave us a warm welcome and told us that there was wine and snacks in the lounge ... you gotta LOVE that ... so while PB got our room squared away, I found a good parking spot at the garage a little further downtown ... Convenient parking in downtown SA is something that is rare on a regular weekend, remarkable during Fiesta ...
The "Vista" is a small operation with a wonderful staff and the location is perfect ... It's just a short walk to the Alamo and the Menger Hotel, across the street from the Convention Center, stairs down to the Downtown loop of the Riverwalk are right across the street, the Mercado is a nice stretch of the legs downhill on Commerce and a cheap busride back, you are close enough to the best restaurants in the City to smell em ..... and with Fiesta in full swing, the whole city was hoppin ..
Just the way I like it !
PB and I tried the place on a friend's advice as a decompression chamber for my first R&R during my sojourn in Iraq ? and it has been our favorite getaway ever since ....
After spreading out our gear and freshening up, we wandered across the street to Zuni Grill for some fine dining and split one of the fabled "Cactus Margarita's" .... a fishbowl full of top-shelf tequila is steeped in a crock of nopales to impart a totally unique smooth / tart flavor (Nopales ? .... look em up Pilgrims ... !)
The stuff goes down WAAAAAAAY too smooth ....
Talking and watching the crowds cruising the Riverwalk was a wonderful way to spend the evening, and tho we did not have to hire a busboy to lead us back across the street, (... not like LAST TIME ... ) I did have to take extra care navigating the high curbs and festival traffic crossing Losoya, not to mention that iron stairway back at the hotel ... for some reason, I was a bit wobbly ....
... must be that Jet Lag stuff ....
We made it back across the street in one piece and settled in ... once again the decompression chamber was working it's magic ... we were lulled to sleep by the street noise that drifted up to our window ... a combination of excited voices, traffic, live jazz from the bar next door, all set to a back-beat of the rumble of the hot-rods, low-riders and V-twins ... it was a regular symphony ... !
__________________________________________
Morning arrived at it's own pace as alarm clocks were banned for the duration of the trip ... PB and I spent a lazy morning enjoying the work of the excellent kitchen at the B&B and the company of our fellow boarders ... It seems two life-long friends were there arranging a 50th birthday party for the younger of the pair, and we were having such a rowdy good time swapping tales and guzzling coffee the Concierge / Chef joined in ...
Hours crept by and only slowly did the realization of what I had done come to me ...
I had, thru a booze induced lapse in Situational Awareness, become the only source of testosterone at a Hen-Party ... and the exhilaration of facing the guns of the Enemy cannot compare the gut-churning fear of suddenly realizing your are the only man in the room and facing four Texas "Women of a Certain Age" in full cry ....
Years of training finally clicked in and I recovered my wits ... I backed out of the room retracing my steps VERY slowly and then bolted for safety
I have had closer calls, but not recently ... juggling bobcats is safer than messing with a bunch of Steel Magnolias ...
Precious Bride returned a little while later to inform me that not only had I managed to NOT embarrass her, but I had made quite an impression on the girls and she and I now had several new life-long friends and an invitation to the aforementioned 50th Birthday party, set for that evening in the loft of the bar next door ...
Talk about coming up roses ... !
_________________________________
One of the few fixed destinations for this trip was The Alamo, where an annual ceremony commemorating the Battle of San Jacinto was to be held, so we geared up and headed down to the street for the short stroll to the Alamo grounds.
The streets were not too crowded, and we were soon at the Shrine ... I have been making regular trips there ever since I moved to Texas and as time goes by, I appreciate more and more what it took to cross that line in the sand and stand at those walls to face a powerful and cruel Enemy ...
One of PB and my favorite memories is a trip when the kids were young, and the bronze plaque of "Travis' Letter" still hung in the main hall ... I read it aloud to our kids and when I turned around to see how the kids and she liked it, I had collected a sizable crowd of visitors all standing behind me quietly listening ...
Fortune saw too it that PB and I had a place to stand right at the front door of the Shrine The ceremony began with a Color Guard, members of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and representatives from all of the armed services entering the front doors and passing slowly thru to the nave, where they all stood at attention until the rest of us filed in and assembled for the Pledge of Allegiance ... It was a splendid sight ... I found myself a little moist around the eyes ...
The main ceremony is short as it is tradition that the palaver last no longer than the battle did and with only 18 minutes, the dignitaries have to keep it short and sweet ....
I wish some politicians could exert such restraint and respect ...
After the dignitaries had their say, a gentleman from San Antonio, a re-enactor in period costume portraying Juan Seguin, stood to the dais and began to read a letter from a Texian private describing the battle to his father ....
The letter chronicled the effects of the news of the burning of "Vinc's Bridge", cutting off Mexican reinforcements and any possiblity of a Texian retreat, the Texians preparations the evening and morning before the battle, the silent advance across the prairie separating the Texian and Mexican camps, the shock of finding the Mexican camp completely unaware of the advance, the terrible effect of the opening volley, led by the "Twin Sisters" cannon that had been hand-drawn across the field to discharge their loads of iron slugs into the Mexican lines at point blank range, the awful retribution taken on the Mexican troops when there was no longer time or room to reload the muzzle-loading weapons and the Texians brought the battle home with bayonets, swords, pikes, knives, gunstocks and fists in the swamps at the rear of the Mexican camp and the eventual news that General Santa Anna had been captured and that they had somehow won .....
The emotion of that reading was overwhelming ... It was a powerful testament to the price paid in blood by those on both sides for the ground beneath our feet the ovation for this fellows performance went on and on ...
The program concluded with the representatives from the Armed Services being called to stand and receive a Proclamation of Thanks for their service from the Daughters of the Republic ... you could hear the crowd cheering and clapping for miles ... the troops were superb and no-one in attendance will soon forget this days program ...
When I hear folks disparage the state of "... young people these days..." I think of all the young troopers I have met over the last few years ... I have no fear for the future with such young men and women standing watch ...
With the official business of the day done, a long stroll thru Alamo Plaza was called for ... by then the sun was almost overhead and warming things up considerably, so we joined the crowds and wandered thru the plaza at a "Mare's Pace" ... the sight of all the vendors made us realize we needed to find a birthday gift for our new friend ....
________________________________________
On a good day, Joye (with an "e") would be a hard person to shop for ... describing her personality as outgoing would be like describing a fire truck as understated ... her long career as a Social Worker has seen her rise to the helm of a Senior Citizens Center in a nearby city where her blindingly sunny disposition and terrier like tenacity make her the perfect choice for such an endeavor ... you CAN'T be in a bad mood around her for long, as she will wrestle whatever is keeping you from enjoying your day to the floor if that's what it takes .... she is deeply committed to the welfare of her clients the perfect choice for a Director ....
The vendors that had set up their tents in the Plaza had all sorts of nice things but nothing jumped out at us as just right for Joye so we headed down to the Mercado to seek treasure there ...
A nice walk thru downtown and we were soon wandering thru the dozens of shops at the Mercado and sure enough EXACTLY the right gifts practically leapt off the shelves ...
From your humble author, Joye received a magnificent pink and white "Lucha Libre" mask (Mexican masked wrestling) and from Precious Bride, Joye now owns a small intricately carved ceramic wall plaque, an Olmec bas relief portraying the faces of youth, middle age and Death, each face nested within the other ...
Precious Bride is definitely the Class Act on our team ... Me? ..... I can't help my self ....
By the time our treasure hunt was finished the heat of the afternoon was becoming oppressive ... walking uphill back to the hotel would not be in keeping with our stated aim of being as lazy as old dogs, so we waited for the bus and we were soon back at basecamp having a light lunch and a couple of Dr. Peppers at an old deli near our hotel .....
Siesta was upon us, and the afternoon was spent in sweet repose ...
The party was a hoot .... loud music, happy people, good food and drink .... Joye's many friends took PB and I in as if we were family ... a group of Joye's clients from the Center attended and partied with the reckless abandon of people that have survived a Great Depression and one or two World Wars as well as the slings and arrows of a long life ... we had fallen in with a fine group of scoundrels ... the Gammers and Gaffers put us "...young punks ...." to shame .... you should have been there when the old folks got started comparing battle scars and tattoos .... some of those GIRLS had quite a history ....
The Wee Hours snuck up on us, so we made our goodbyes to the still-reveling revelers and wobbled our way back to the hotel, which thankfully, was two doors down and on the same side of the street, leaving only the iron stairs and an elevator to negotiate ...
Did you know that if you press all the buttons you will eventually get to your floor?
It may take a few round trips, but you will eventually get there ......
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Our last day was spent inside, subsisting on "snackage" and the excellent kitchen there at the hotel .... with all that has gone on lately we needed time to chill out and just talk ....
Without Ben, there is now a lot of day left at the end of the work, and a whole lot of living left to be done that had been too long deferred ..... so much to do ....
The work, as is its way, will fill up the available time soon enough, and I have a feeling that life has a few more twists and turns in it for the rest of us.
When all the talk was done, it turns out, none of the three of us really want or need any great changes in the general direction of our lives .... Precious Bride and I will continue to work down towards retirement at The Ranch, Precious Dafter will continue her studies ...
The planet will keep spinning ... Life will go on ...
Let's hope things spin in Greased Grooves for a little while .....
All too soon, it was time to go Home .... and get one with it ....
Now, go tell someone you LOVE them ....
Terry
groundcover
Veteran Member
Wow ... Great read !
Kyle_in_Tex
Super Star Member
Thanks for sharing. We gotta meet one of these days. I'll show you a good place to eat in Bryan for lunch if you ever have a spare lunch hour.
I was gonna maybe guess OakRidge Smokehouse in Schulenburg? But there's Frank's also but they don't have a little motel there. Unless you might be pulling a fast one and remembering the old US90 days.
I was gonna maybe guess OakRidge Smokehouse in Schulenburg? But there's Frank's also but they don't have a little motel there. Unless you might be pulling a fast one and remembering the old US90 days.